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1. The Real Safety Stars
Understanding A Cars Safety
Ratings

2. Introduction
• When shopping for a new car, the large majority
of buyers give some consideration to the safety
crash-test ratings. However, this consideration
rarely extends beyond taking note of how many
stars it received overall.
• Those really concerned about safety might want
to move their understanding to a level that is a
little deeper.

3. Introduction
• In other words, what exactly is earning those
stars for all the highest-rated vehicles traveling
down the road?
• We will take an in-depth look at some of the
most critical aspects of crash-tests in order to
actually put some meaning behind the stars that
car manufacturers so proudly display.

4. Two Separate Systems
• There are two crash-test rating systems that are
developed by two separate, independent
institutions.
• The most commonly sited rating is that given by
the Insurance Instituted for Highway Safety
(IIHS).

5. Two Separate Systems
• The other is given by a branch of the Department
of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic
Administration (NHTSA).
• The IIHS is not associated with the government,
rather, it is sponsored by a research group that is
backed by the insurance industry. The methods
for testing each car differ slightly in each of these
organizations.

6. The Goals in Gathering Data
• Both institutes test front and side-impact
responses, however the NHTSA tests a vehicle's
propensity to rollover while the IIHS tests rear-
impact capabilities and roof strength.
• The NHTSA rates each vehicle using a system of
stars that range from one to five, combining the
results from each individual test to come up with
an individual score that rates the vehicle as a
whole.

7. The Goals in Gathering Data
• These procedures are testing the impact on the
crash dummy in addition to the actual damage
that the car receives.

8. The Goals in Gathering Data
• This data is necessary because the car is not
being evaluated for strength necessarily.
• The test scores are meant to reflect the ability of
the car or truck to protect the passengers inside.
• The damage to passengers is assessed through
measuring the trauma to the dummies in the
head, abdomen, chest, and pelvic area primarily.

9. A Different Emphasis, A Different Test
• The IIHS takes a slightly different approach by
placing the emphasis of the test on the actual
structural integrity of the car and its ability to
restrain passengers in the event of a crash.
• The frontal crash-test that they perform
simulates the results of a car crashing head on
into another car of the same type and weight.

10. A Different Emphasis, A Different Test
• This form of testing is less severe than that of the
NHTSA frontal test that accelerates a car straight
into a rigid barrier at 35 mph.
• The IIHS tests for side-impact collisions by
forcing a static barrier weighing 3,300 pounds
into the side of the vehicle.

11. A Different Emphasis, A Different Test
• The dummies used in the vast majority of these
tests are about the size of the average male adult.
The rear-impact tests are the least strenuous
because crashes of this kind rarely result in
death.
• These tests monitor the ability of the car to
restrain the heads of the passengers.

12. A Final Consideration
• With this information in mind, it is also
important to remember the things which the
stars fail to tell us. They do not account for
accidents where one vehicle is considerably large
or heavier than the other.
• They also fail to reveal the results for different
classes of vehicles whose bumper may be
considerably higher than that of the average car.

13. A Final Consideration
• Finally, they apply in broad terms only when it
comes to side-impact ratings, making this the
most important star to consider when
purchasing a new car.